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And who says Administrators ( or economists, for that matter)can't be enlightened? Dr. Martin has seen the light and we'll be better for it. I hope those reading his article will share it with economics faculty and administrators who are unlikely to read the Journal of Extension because of the bias to which he alludes.

 

By George J. Young on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 04:49 pm:

Amen.

 

By Laura Miller on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 05:05 pm:

The choir applauds the sermon. It's ready to take to the streets, or in this case the halls of academia.

 

By Tom Darnell on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 - 12:14 pm:

I believe the author is "right on". When most areas of agriculture are struggling for economic survival our land-grant universities should not abandon or downsize Extension economic programs. It is not enough to help our clintele produce more or tell them to add value to their products. We can only make so much cabbage into sauerkraut

 

By Anonymous on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 - 05:11 pm:

Why do I not agree?! Yes, Ag Econ provides extremely valuable information but to say that they should get involved more with Extension to save their industry is like saying we need to build more bridges to keep bridge builders employed (even if we don't need more bridges). Why not instead focus on what ag economists have to offer society?

 

By Anonymous on Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 12:11 pm:

What do ag economists have to offer society but an approximation of the "perfect knowledge" the field is so deeply rooted in. That knowledge is valueless unless it is made available to decision makers. I believe Martin's point goes more to this point than the issue of saving the "ag economist profession". Ultimately the distinction of "ag economist" and "economist" is application. I believe his point is that it's useless to have an esoteric discussion among the profession on theory when the focus should be to make information relevant to decision makers in the ag industry.

 

By Dr.P.P.Pal,Scientist,ICAR,New Delhi on Thursday, December 05, 2002 - 12:49 am:

I would like to hear from Dr.martin how his views are relevant in the context of developing country like India where mostly Agril.Economics Departments like to work in isolation and dissociate itsellf from any type of extension activities.

 

By Ken Hart on Monday, December 09, 2002 - 02:42 pm:

Dr. Martin's comments are right on. His experience of perspective granted by administrative outlook results in a common sense conclusion, a welcome outcome among administrators.

Regarding Dr. Martin's comments on the AAEA, I have been a member since 1996 and am a founding member of the Extension Section (1999). While there are many great people involved and great things done, the culture of the organization is not especially welcoming to Extension. As a county-based Extension educator with a partial appointment in farm management, I often felt that organizationally and individually the AAEA was uncertain what to do with me, a "county agent," after all.

 

By Anonymous on Saturday, January 11, 2003 - 09:55 pm:

As an Ag Economist working in extension I find a great deal of my time is spent working with producers in financial trouble, interpreting agricultural policy for producers and developing new value added initiatives. I wish that I had taken additional classes in accounting and taxation, but I find the work interesting and challenging.

I have worked in academia and did enjoy the time I spent in that environment. The largest impediment in academia are the egos of some individuals as published research is equated to more prestige in the department and additional funding for even more research. I felt I was doing research for the sake of research not to actually have a reason for it.

Now that I am working in extension I have a number of research projects that I feel should be reviewed, but no time or resources to carry them out. If anyone in academia reads this posting, make an effort to contact the front line extension staff to highlight what research is being carried out for them and to obtain some insight into problems producers are facing today and discover some methods to assist them.

 

By John VanSickle on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 12:14 pm:

I applaud Dr.Martin for an insightful discussion on extension in agricultural economics. His example of success at the University of Florida was a program I was asked to lead after a research orientation failed to result in funds to support the program. As soon as the agricultural industry felt a 'program' was being developed to assist them in marketing, production and policy, they welcomed our expertise and they found the funding necessary to make this program a success. We now have a functioning International Agricultural Trade and Policy Center with significant funding. I believe a department that takes on the same mission of developing a 'program' that carries the research through to assistance in the field will result in the same level of support for other programs within our profession. Dr. Martin is right, without a results based extension 'program' in agricultural economics we cannot expect our leaders to recognize our true value.  

 

By homauon on Friday, May 02, 2003 - 08:19 am:

i need paper about rurale comunication